This article was originally published by Michael Snyder at The Economic Collapse
The economic numbers just continue to get worse and worse, and at this point it has become exceedingly clear that an economic slowdown is happening. In fact, even the chair of the Federal Reserve is using the term “slowdown” to describe what is taking place. But of course many are still hoping that the U.S. economy can pull out of this slump and avoid the sort of crippling recession that we experienced in 2008. Unfortunately, that may be really tough because the entire global economy is slowing down right now. Our world is more interconnected than ever before, and what happens on one side of the planet is invariably going to affect the other side of the planet. Some parts of the globe are already mired in deep economic problems, and the U.S. appears to be following down the same path.
If you still think that the economy is in “good shape”, please read over the following list very carefully.
The following are 14 very alarming numbers that reveal the true state of the economy…
#1 Continuing jobless claims are rising at the fastest pace in 10 years.
#2 U.S. businesses are adding jobs at the slowest pace in 18 months.
#3 General Motors, Ford, Nissan and Fiat Chrysler all reported sales declines of at least 5 percent on a year over year basis in March.
#4 Tesla vehicle deliveries were down a whopping 31 percent during the first quarter of 2019.
#5 U.S. consumer confidence fell more than 7 points in March.
#6 Manhattan real estate sales have now fallen for six straight quarters. That is the longest losing streak in 30 years.
#7 London real estate sales just dropped by the most we have seen in 10 years.
#8 The owner of Kay, Zales and Jared jewelers just announced that they will be closing 150 stores.
#9 Retail layoffs are 92 percent higher than they were at this time last year.
#10 U.S. freight shipment volume has fallen for three months in a row.
#11 The inventory to sales ratio in the United States has risen sharply for five months in a row.
#12 At this point, almost half of all renters in America spend more than 30 percent of their incomes on rent.
#13 The real median net income for Minnesota farmers was only $26,055 in 2018, and that was before many of them were absolutely devastated by the recent flooding.
#14 Overall, U.S. economic numbers are off to their worst start for a year since 2008.
We didn’t see economic numbers like this last year.
But now things have clearly changed. It is starting to feel more like 2008 with each passing day, and this is a point that Mac Slavo made in his most recent article…
The signs of yet another economic recession are everywhere. In fact, it seems hard to find any positive economic news anymore, even though a mere few months ago, it was difficult to find a report signaling the United States might be headed for some turmoil.
These days, many people get offended at the thought that the U.S. economy is heading for trouble. But the truth is that we have been heading for trouble for a very long time.
Our economy is built on a foundation of sand. More specifically, we have borrowed our way into “prosperity”.
The other day, I wrote an article about our $22,000,000,000,000 national debt. It is the biggest single debt in the history of the world, and we continue to add to it at a rate that is absolutely insane. In fact, our 234 billion dollar deficit in February broke the all-time record for a single month. If we continue to do this, there is no way that our story ends well.
But that 22 trillion dollar debt is only a fraction of our overall debt.
When you add up all forms of debt in the United States, it comes to a grand total of more than 72 trillion dollars. And that doesn’t even include a single dollar of our unfunded liabilities on the federal, state and local level.
When Ronald Reagan took office, the total amount of debt in the U.S. was less than 5 trillion dollars.
When historians look back on this time in history, they will not be surprised that our society ultimately collapsed. What will surprise them is that it took so long for it to do so.
Sometimes I get criticized for urging people to get prepared. But those that really deserve the criticism are those that are assuring everyone that everything is going to be just fine. If we got the smartest minds in the entire country together and treated this like a major national emergency, perhaps we could find a way to engineer some sort of a soft landing when this debt bubble bursts.
But as it stands, there is no plan and our long-term problems get worse with each passing day. Our economy is headed for a crash of epic proportions, and it isn’t going to matter who is in power in Washington when it happens.
And at the rate that our economy is currently slowing down, America may become an economic horror show a lot sooner than many people had anticipated.
Michael T. Snyder is a graduate of the University of Florida law school and he worked as an attorney in the heart of Washington D.C. for a number of years.
Today, Michael is best known for his work as the publisher of The Economic Collapse Blog and The American Dream.
If you want to know what is coming and what you can do to prepare, read his latest book [amazon text=Get Prepared Now!: Why A Great Crisis Is Coming & How You Can Survive It&asin=150522599X].
Huh! Manhatten home sales continue to fall? Must be due to the taxes and the MS-13.
“When Ronald Reagan took office, the total amount of debt in the US was less than 5 trillion.”
When Ronald Reagan left office the debt was about 10 trillion. It’s just shy of 80 trillion now, according to the FRED chart you link to. That means it doubles around every 8 years. In 8 more years it will be at 160 trillion. Now THAT’S a perfect example of an exponential function. It’s turning into a hockey stick chart.
Back in the eighties, Reagan’s era, a trillion dollars was hardly imagined by the public. A millionaire was a rich person and a billionaire was hardly found. Now there are hundreds of them and a 22 trillion dollar debt seems meaningless. In another 40 years quadrillions in debt will seem meaningless, much as a trillion used to be. That is, as long as the resources are available to keep industrial civilization rolling along and the US military is there to grab them and enforce the FRN. I doubt it.
Sorry, maffs is hard. It doubles around every 10 years. In about 10 years it will be 160 trillion.
“as long as the resources are available to keep industrial civilization rolling along and the US military is there to grab them and enforce the FRN. I doubt it.”
the FED has PRINTED trillions of dollars with nothing to back it up since the banking system imploded in 08….is that the “resources” yer talkin’ about? when a dollar is printed, it actually ADDS to our GDP…as if it doesn’t have to be paid back…..EVERY single monetary figure our gubmint puts out has some kind of lie associated with it. you BETTER “doubt it”.
No, I’m talking about REAL resources like oil and coal and uranium and natgas…not paper. I doubt there will be resources around to run IC in another 40 years.
There was a reason that the founders did not allow for a federal income tax. It was because once the “mob” realized they could tax people richer than them, there would be no end to it.
The 16th amendment essentially set into motion the destruction of the finances of America.
Most Democrats are poor and believe they were “cheated” by life and someone owes them. Our problem is not debt, it is Democrats and socialists.
The only way to fix the system is to stand aside and let the Democrats commit financial suicide. The best we can do is prepare and get out of the cities. Quit participating in “regular” society. Don’t buy anything new. Don’t go out to dinner,movies, buy entertainment media, or take a vacation
(please avoid Hawaii at all costs!).
Do everything you can to only pay taxes once a year, if at all. Switch to cash only and only deal with people that accept cash and don’t charge you sales taxes. Quit working as soon as you can. If you can, see if you can switch to being a LLC contractor and work on a cash only basis(buy a good fireproof safe).
Deprive the system of its normal streams of income.
Go off grid wherever possible, but don’t sacrifice too much, as nobody wants to live like it is the 1700’s, I like my 4WD pickup trucks, my 4 satellite internet connected computers, and my Ebay tax free Fed Ex delivered goods.
Granted this is nearly impossible to do if you have kids, but once they fly the nest, you can be more selfish and flexible.
If all us old farts that actually have most of the countries wealth, were to stop playing the “game” as they expect us to,
we would make a significant dent. Just aim to disrupt the system that is run as a “Just In Time”, cash flow based economy. It is so weak, it will fail. Nothing I propose is illegal or can be proven in a court beyond a reasonable doubt.
I said it before & I’ll say it again, this country has not had a real economy since the late 60’s! I remember it well. It’s been going down the crapper since the ’69-71 recession. Over the past 50 years, a massive amount of debt has been created to pay for all this pseudo prosperity. It’s now catching up with us big time!
The American peoples power has been effectively neutered. How else can you explain what passes as the existing government?
What Passes as the existing government. Is the result of our Republic being changed into a mob rule Democracy. When they started letting everyone and anyone vote It wasn’t long before folks started voting themselves So called (Free) goods & services from the public coffers. So now the candidate who promises the most (Free) stuff is elected. And the successful candidate who is likely already wealthy. Promise’s to make the Evil Rich folks pay for their give away . By making them pay their (Fair Share?) A fiscally Responsible candidate cannot win a election. And the mint hasn’t printed trillions of dollars to represent the debt in actual paper cash. There isn’t very much actual physical Paper Cash in circulation. The Debt is all Digital currency. Numbers on a spread sheet. No need to crank up the Printing Presses. Just add another Zero to the account.